


In the Line of Fire

by Freedom_Shamrock



Series: MiraculousFluffMonth 2017 [22]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Reveal, Support
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 15:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11877702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedom_Shamrock/pseuds/Freedom_Shamrock
Summary: An early morning akuma attack is the perfect opportunity for Nino to support Chat Noir.  Unbeknownst to him, Alya's doing the same for Ladybug.  Surely nothing will go wrong.





	In the Line of Fire

**Author's Note:**

> This is a companion piece to Requesting Permission to be Support, though it can be read on its own. It is also Miraculous Fluff month's Aug 22 prompt, whoops!

Nino dashed toward the epicenter of the akuma attack zone.  For a change of pace, he wasn't chasing after his cray cray girlfriend and her need for all the battle footage.  He was trying to get into position to support his bro, if need be.  This wasn't the usual half hour to an hour battle.  It had been raging for over two, and if the reports were correct, both heroes had gone into hiding at least once, which Nino knew damn well meant they'd had to recharge their little dudes.

His backpack shifted slightly as he ran, the contents slipping around inside.  Now that Adrien knew, Nino had shared his contingency plan.  He would always move to the side of the battle opposite the Eiffel Tower.  It was better than cardinal directions, and featured prominently in so many attacks.  Being where he could see it, but as far from it as possible had been Adrien's modification to the plan.  Stupid dork was worried Nino would get hurt, when **he** was the one getting thrown through the air, blasted by fire, and tossed face-first into walls on the regular.

With a jump, Nino caught the bottom rung of the fire escape of the building he'd chosen, and hauled himself up.  Running with Alya had built up his stamina, and while he wasn't ready to race Kim, it had made a huge difference.  In anticipation of a point when he could actually be overt in his assistance, he'd started working out at the gym six months back.  He was glad now that he had.  Fire escapes were not fun to rush up at all.

It took just a bit of completely insane parkour, best if he didn't think about it too much, to make it to the roof.  He could see the heroes from here, but didn't seem to be at risk from flying debris.  This was a much more localized akuma.  Pulling a square mirror from one of his vest pockets, he flashed a patch of sunlight in front of Chat's feet.  The black cat hero looked around once to be sure the coast was clear, then glanced over in Nino's direction.  He was pretty sure he saw Chat nod once, so he put away the mirror.  He had a laser pointer for darker conditions and a whistle for fog.

His fingers went quickly to the clasp on his chest strap and then the hip strap of his backpack.  Crouching down, he pulled both zips down and spread the bag open so he could quickly retrieve whatever he needed.

 

* * *

Alya  ducked behind a kiosk as she continued to film the attack.  She was still proud of Ladybug, but now that she'd confirmed the hero was her bestie, she was more than a little worried that something could go wrong.  She was no longer the naive girl who assumed superheroes could conquer anything.  She knew the risks were real.  She had a much greater understanding and appreciation for Chat than she used to.  Like Alya, he seemed to focus on the fact that without Ladybug, the akuma could be beaten but not cured, and the damage couldn't be reversed.  It something happened to him, she could bring him back.  But the reverse was not true.

She'd already handed cookies off to Mari once, when her first lucky charm had proven ineffective, and had been swallowed by the akuma, a velociraptor who could shoot laserbeams out of her eyes, so Cyclops in dinosaur form.  She really wanted to find out why this had been its chosen form.

She saw a strange square of sunlight reflected onto the ground in front of Chat Noir for a moment.  She glanced up, but couldn't find the source.  He was going to need a recharge soon as well.  He'd used cataclysm for the second time about a minute ago.

The two heroes locked eyes and then dashed in opposite directions, circling the akuma.  When it paid undue attention to Ladybug, Chat extended his baton to smack the back of the creature's head.  Oh.  He was the diversion.  He continued to engage the akuma, giving his partner time to do her bit.

"Lucky charm!"  Ladybug's voice was muffled, but then she had taken a tail swipe to the face earlier.

Alya couldn't quite catch what the charm was, but it made sense to her friend, and within minutes, she and Chat Noir had the fight wrapped up.

Ladybug's healing magic rushed through the city.

"Pound it!"   Alya was pleased to have gotten such good footage, but honestly, it was secondary to her role as support person.  Marinette hadn't told Chat about their arrangement yet, but she'd offered to assist him as well.  She was already here.  She may as well.

 

* * *

Moments after the magic had cleared the area, Chat Noir touched down near Nino.  "Hey.  Got your signal."  He smiled.  For him this was almost more of a secret club than actual work.  His buddy was bats, that was certain.

"Yeah.  We've gotta come up with something better.  Like, maybe I could text my location to your baton or something."  The first aid kit wasn't needed, nor the thermal blanket.  He pulled out a box and handed Chat a bagel sandwich, ham and cheese.  "You need to keep your strength up, dude.  We're late for school."  He opened a smaller package and held out a triangle of camembert.  He threw a beach towel over Chat's head.  "Now detransform and feed the little dute."

There was a flash of green light, followed by a nasal whine.  "Oh, I'm so weak…"

"Well then it's a good thing Nino brought you cheese," Adrien said, his voice muffled by the towel.  "Eat up buddy.  We've got to give Nino a ride to school."

"I've got our excuses all planned out," Nino assured him.  "I overslept, 'cause I haven't used that one recently, and you had a really early shoot."

"Let's keep him," Plagg said.  

* * *

"Sorry Ms. Bustier," Alya said, rushing into the classroom with one arm around Marinette.  She nudged her bestie to her heat.  "There was an akuma attack this morning, and you know I had to film it."  She'd managed to get school authorization for her random absences, because she'd written up a great proposal for an independent educational project that focused on her areas of interest.  And her parents had approved.  As long as she stayed on top of her classwork, and avoided undue danger, it would be permitted.    
She leaned closer to their teacher to whisper the next bit.  "I knew Marinette would have stayed in, with the attack and all, so I went and got her once it was all clear."  She'd convinced all the teachers that Marinette had an anxiety disorder, and that akumas gave her panic attacks.  It was the perfect excuse for ushering Marinette to a safe place when akumas turned up during the school day.

"You're a really great friend, Alya," Ms. Bustier said, smiling.  "Thank you."

Once in her desk, she pulled out her tablet and got to work.  After a few moments, she noticed that Marinette was fretting, her fingers tucked into the purse where Tikki rested.  "What's up?" she whispered.

Marinette glanced at her purse.  "Hungry."

"Oh.  Let me see if I have anything left."  Poor Tikki had worked so hard today.  Alya rummaged in her bag, letting out a little grunt of annoyance.  "I've only got this."  She held up the tiny cardboard package of cheese she'd started carrying as an emergency back up for Chat Noir if he needed.

"Camembert?" Marinette asked, looking into her purse, then she shook her head.

* * *

Nino slowly turned and looked at his girlfriend.  He'd picked up most of the whispers behind him.  "You gonna eat that?" he asked, gesturing to the cheese.

Marinette looked repulsed and Alya just shook her head.

"Can I trade you some cookies for it?  They're my mum's chocolate chip recipe."  He watched as Marinette's eyes went wide and hopeful.

"Uuh.  Yeah," Alya agreed, nodding.  "Here."  She handed him the cheese, taking the cookies in a waxed paper sleeve..

"Cool.  Thanks dudes."  He leaned over to whisper to Adrien.  "Open your bag and nudge it my way.  I've got a bit more cheese."  As he was straightening back up, he caught sight of Alya tucking the cookies into Marinette's tiny purse.  Yeah.  That wasn't at all suspicious.  It seemed he and his girlfriend would be having the same kind of talk that Chat was planning to have with Ladybug.

**Author's Note:**

> 30 minute speed write that had to be extended by 5 to adequately wrap up.
> 
> This was going to be the last in this I See You series, but it feels incomplete, so I’m using the last undedicated prompt to do that.
> 
> I don’t know if the French have fire escapes like ours in the US, but it makes sense, so I went with it.
> 
> I'm also over on tumblr, so feel free to stop by and visit if you'd like. My content is multi-fandom, with a lot of ML. http://freedom-shamrock.tumblr.com


End file.
